United States Youth Cricket Association
The New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corporation in Indiana launched its countywide school cricket program with a daylong in-school camp on November 12. The camp was organized by Eileen Richard and held at Highland Hills Middle School in Georgetown, Indiana. Richards oversees sports activities in all district schools, which includes 23 middle and nine elementary schools. Floyd County is located in extreme southern Indiana, across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.
A kid try his hands at batting.
The camp took place over seven school periods and included more than a thousands students and many teachers, almost all of whom were learning cricket for the first time. Over one hundred students, who rotated between stations where different cricket skills were taught, attended each session.
“The Indiana Youth Cricket presentation at our middle school was amazing,” said Richards. “It brought the second most popular game in the world to our gym. The students were bowling and batting all day; it was a great learning process.
“I have parent to start an afterschool club, which can provide training on a regular basis. Our PE teachers can now start teaching cricket in school. We also have many baseball and softball players in our schools and they have really taken to this game,” said Richards.
Other district staff members were equally impressed with the work of Jatin Patel, president of the Indiana YCA.
“Jatin did a great job explaining the game, demonstrating the basics, and providing an opportunity to play,” said Stacy Patterson, a district Health/PE teacher, who is also Safety Net Coordinator for the schools. “The kids loved it!”
Zach Howard, a PE Teacher, said, “This was a great opportunity for the students to be introduced to cricket. Jatin did a great job of keeping the students engaged. They were able to develop basic skills and participate in game like situations. It was a real treat for the students to learn an unfamiliar game. Thanks!!”
Another PE teacher, Joe Perkins, said, “Jatin did a great job of getting everyone involved in the cricket demonstration. All of our students were on task during the presentation and he did a great job of presenting the material for a difficult game.”
PE teacher Sarah Fox added, “Jatin did a great job of teaching cricket skills to my 6th graders. The next day we talked about the differences between baseball and cricket. The students loved the chance to learn a new sport. We hope to use our skills to play cricket soon!”
Source: http://usyca.org
